Pieced together over the last two years, Once Human's upcoming album, Scar Weaver, represents a massive step forward for the band. Blessed (or perhaps cursed) with plenty of additional time during the last year’s lockdown situation, the band have been able to refine and redefine their sound, inspired by a sudden creative surge from latest recruit, Max Karon. The result is a gloriously idiosyncratic modern metal record, with Lauren Hart’s career-best vocal performance just one of its dazzling revelations. With Once Human's most intense and explosive music to work with, the singer has pushed herself to new heights, showcasing a vastly expanded vocal range in the process.

One instant highlight of the new Once Human record is new  single "Deadlock", featuring a typically imperious vocal cameo from Machine Head’s Robb Flynn. Logan Mader’s history with Machine Head is well documented, not least in recent times when he toured the globe with Robb for the Bay Area band’s Burn My Eyes 25th Anniversary Tour. As a result, this new collaboration needs no explanation, but Lauren remains thrilled by the whole experience.

“It was absolutely amazing, are you kidding?” Lauren Hart says. “I didn’t believe it was happening until he sent something back and I heard his voice on our song. I was like, 'Holy crap! This is real!' He came back with a new chorus and it was so much better than mine, so my chorus was gone! (Laughs) But then performing with him in the video, that was insane. The energy he brings on stage, he brings in person too. It was a great experience and his energy is so powerful. The video came out amazing!"

Check out the video below.

Founded in 2014, Once Human have steadily established themselves as one of the most distinct metal bands of the modern era. Founded by guitarist Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head) and vocalist Lauren Hart, the LA-based quintet have had noses to the grindstone throughout their existence, exhibiting a tireless dedication to live performance and a meticulous approach to capturing their crushing anthems for posterity. Over the course of two full-length albums - 2015’s much hailed debut, The Life I Remember, and 2017’s conceptual tour-de-force, Evolution - Once Human have pursued a militantly individual path, eschewing contemporary cliché in favour of a versatile new strain of brutal but accessible metal, with Lauren’s vocals providing an endlessly emotive focal point.

Once Human are:

Lauren Hart - Lead Vocals
Logan Mader - Guitar
Max Karon - Guitar
Damien Rainaud - Bass
Dillon Trollope - Drums